Here are a list of some of my favorite tornado chases I’ve had during my career. This includes chases that had my best intercepts, my more photogenic tubes, historic tornado events, or just really great memories. This does NOT include EVERY tornado chase I have ever had, just a bunch of my personal favorites.
Tornado Chases
Full Write-Up
Northeast Colorado
Chase Miles:
339
On a chase that reminded me a lot of Yuma 2023, I saw several tornadoes, including a long-lived, very photogenic tornado near Akron in northeast Colorado.
Tornadoes:
3
Hail:
None
Flooding:
None Observed
Full Write-Up
Eastern NE/Western IA
Chase Miles:
683
Ed Grubb and myself chased the largest tornado outbreak of 2024, documenting 8 tornadoes across Nebraska and Iowa, and covered a large tornado live for 30 minutes straight.
Tornadoes:
8
Hail:
1.50"
Flooding:
None Observed
Full Write-Up
Northeast Colorado
Chase Miles:
551
In a season full of incredible tornado chases, why not have another one! Incredibly photogenic tornado intercept near Yuma that I did a live standup in front of.
Tornadoes:
4
Hail:
3.00"
Flooding:
None Observed
Full Write-Up
Northeast Colorado
Chase Miles:
383
The tornado chase of my lifetime, hands-down the all-time number 1! One of the most beautiful tornadoes ever photographed, one of nearly THREE dozen to touch down on this historic Colorado day.
Tornadoes:
19
Hail:
2.75"
Flooding:
None Observed
Full Write-Up
Northeast Texas
Chase Miles:
2,234
A large November tornado outbreak across northeast Texas brought an incredible, close-range intercept of a large, very photogenic EF-2 tornado southwest of the town of Sulphur Springs for Ed Grubb and I.
Tornadoes:
1
Hail:
1.00"
Flooding:
None Observed
Full Write-Up
Northwest Iowa
Chase Miles:
544
After over two decades of a brutal Iowa jinx, I finally saw my first legit tornado in the state, rolling right up a weak EF-0 tornado on the south side of Ocheyedan, Iowa.
Tornadoes:
1
Hail:
None
Flooding:
None Observed
Full Write-Up
Northern Colorado
Chase Miles:
7
On a day where it was nearly Meteorologically impossible, an 11,000-foot tall landspout touched down near my home less than two hours after we closed on the house. My wife spotted it first!
Tornadoes:
1
Hail:
None
Flooding:
None Observed
Full Write-Up
Texas Panhandle
Chase Miles:
877
A very long day between weathermanning shifts landed me my biggest ever March tornado near Happy, Texas; a 1000-yard wide EF-2 wedge!
Tornadoes:
2
Hail:
1.00"
Flooding:
Minor
Full Write-Up
Northeast Kansas
Chase Miles:
417
A late season chase outside the KAKE viewing area yielded a couple nice early evening tornadoes and a few good lightning photos to round out the summer season.
Tornadoes:
2
Hail:
None
Flooding:
None Observed
Full Write-Up
Eastern CO/Southwest KS
Chase Miles:
690
I was literally the only person on the planet to see this one tornado and it was not long after EVERY OTHER CHASER had cleared the area.
Tornadoes:
1
Hail:
None
Flooding:
Street Flooding
Full Write-Up
Central Kansas
Chase Miles:
424
After literally the most beautiful supercell/lightning photos I had ever shot came my best ever nighttime tornado photo on a chase that was full of wall-hangers! Easily my favorite chase of 2019!
Tornadoes:
1
Hail:
None
Flooding:
None
In Progress
Central Kansas
Chase Miles:
197
Intercepted a rain-wrapped tornado near Alden, Kansas and tracked the storm to literally my house and got clobbered with golfball sized hail.
Tornadoes:
1
Hail:
1.75"
Flooding:
Street Flooding
In Progress
Southeast Kansas
Chase Miles:
140
My first tornado as a Wichita resident and I put it live on KAKE-TV! But my chase ended abruptly when I was t-boned when a lady ran a stop sign in Arkansas City.
Tornadoes:
1
Hail:
2.00"
Flooding:
None Observed
Full Write-Up
CO/WY/NE Tri-State Area
Chase Miles:
1,373
One of the most photogenic tornadoes on one of the best chases of my career! Huge hail and amazing tornadoes in Colorado, Wyoming, and Nebraska on a rare Moderate Risk day!
Tornadoes:
3
Hail:
3.00"
Flooding:
None Observed
In Progress
TX Panhandle/Western OK
Chase Miles:
1,315
Documented a beautiful supercell and tornado near the TX/OK border and got involved with other tornadic storms in western Oklahoma.
Tornadoes:
1
Hail:
1.75"
Flooding:
None Observed
In Progress
Southern Illinois
Chase Miles:
335
Easily the biggest tornado chase during my five years in southern Illinois, a close encounter with the nighttime EF-4 long track tornado near Vergennes only a few miles north of my house.
Tornadoes:
1
Hail:
1.25"
Flooding:
None Observed
Full Write-Up
Northern Kansas
Chase Miles:
447
We started the day with no intention to chase and ended up watching half of the 90-minute life of a monster, ground-shaking EF-4 wedge.
Tornadoes:
1
Hail:
None
Flooding:
None Observed
Full Write-Up
Southwest Kansas
Chase Miles:
281
An incredible, Top 5 all-time tornado intercept chase that included dozens of tornadoes around the Dodge City area in southwest Kansas. Also included my 300th career tornado.
Tornadoes:
12
Hail:
1.00"
Flooding:
None Observed
Full Write-Up
Texas Panhandle
Chase Miles:
381
Patience paid off in a big way as a series of picturesque tornadoes plopped down after multiple storm mergers southeast of Spearman, Texas.
Tornadoes:
5
Hail:
1.00"
Flooding:
None Observed
Full Write-Up
Western Kansas
Chase Miles:
402
Two tornadoes on a CRAZY beautiful supercell near Leoti, Kansas kicked off one of the most prolific tornado weeks in recent chase memory.
Tornadoes:
2
Hail:
2.00"
Flooding:
None Observed
Full Write-Up
Northeast Colorado
Chase Miles:
406
Incredible Colorado tornado intercepts, including yards from a large, dusty landspout followed up by an incredibly photogenic EF-2 north of the town of Wray.
Tornadoes:
2
Hail:
1.25"
Flooding:
None Observed
Full Write-Up
TX/OK Panhandles
Chase Miles:
1,271
Caught a couple close tornadoes on some slick, muddy roads in the Oklahoma Panhandle and got pummeled by big hail down in Dalhart, Texas.
Tornadoes:
2
Hail:
2.00"
Flooding:
Urban Flooding
In Progress
Southwest Kansas
Chase Miles:
1,774
Easily my best ever off-season chase on a historic outbreak of tornadoes where I tracked an incredible supercell across southwest Kansas into the night.
Tornadoes:
3
Hail:
1.75"
Flooding:
None Observed
In Progress
Eastern Colorado
Chase Miles:
480
A rather surprising day in eastern Colorado 24 hours after missing Simla where one of my good friends saw her very first tornadoes!
Tornadoes:
5
Hail:
1.00"
Flooding:
None Observed
In Progress
Eastern Colorado
Chase Miles:
690
Easily my best Colorado tornado chase day to date! We documented four tornadoes, including one from nearly 50 miles away in Kansas.
Tornadoes:
4
Hail:
1.25"
Flooding:
None Observed
Full Write-Up
Southern Kansas
Chase Miles:
1,010
Documented the world's shortest-duration wedge tornado southwest of Medicine Lodge before getting cored in golfball-sized hail.
Tornadoes:
1
Hail:
1.75"
Flooding:
None Observed
Full Write-Up
Northeast Nebraska
Chase Miles:
987
A once-in-a-generation tornado event that included the infamous Pilger twin EF-4 tornadoes. A total of FOUR EF-4 tornadoes touched down within a few hours of each other in northeast Nebraska.
Tornadoes:
6
Hail:
None
Flooding:
None Observed
In Progress
Central Missouri
Chase Miles:
649
A trip across Missouri yielded the intercept of a massive rain-wrapped wedge tornado outside the town of Marshall.
Tornadoes:
1
Hail:
None
Flooding:
None Observed
In Progress
Southern Kansas
Chase Miles:
312
I tracked multiple tornadoes dangerously close to Wichita on a high-impact day in southern Kansas, including a rather pretty elephant trunk near Viola.
Tornadoes:
4
Hail:
N/A
Flooding:
None Observed
In Progress
Central Kansas
Chase Miles:
1,296
A day I saved after missing the Rozel tornado, I managed to get down in time to see a pink tornado at sunset near Sanford, KS.
Tornadoes:
2
Hail:
1.00"
Flooding:
None Observed
Full Write-Up
Central Kansas
Chase Miles:
989
One of my top Kansas chases ever with several close, incredibly photogenic tornadoes across central Kansas on this historic High Risk day!
Tornadoes:
7
Hail:
1.25"
Flooding:
None Observed
In Progress
Southwest Oklahoma
Chase Miles:
1,525
Quakenado, literally all that needs to be said for this crazy Oklahoma day where I documented four tornadoes. Oh yeah, there was an earthquake, too! Just another day in Oklahoma.
Tornadoes:
4
Hail:
1.25"
Flooding:
None Observed
In Progress
Central Nebraska
Chase Miles:
742
Our finale chase with Discovery Channel yielded one of the most photogenic tornadoes of the year and the afterparty that will live on forever!
Tornadoes:
3
Hail:
N/A
Flooding:
None Observed
Full Write-Up
Central Oklahoma
Chase Miles:
403
A historic tornado outbreak across the Central Plains as our TWISTEX crew documented several large, violent tornadoes around Canton Lake, including a large EF-3 and my 200th career tornado near Fairview.
Tornadoes:
2
Hail:
1.00"
Flooding:
None Observed
In Progress
Eastern MS/Western AL
Chase Miles:
2,000
It was one of the biggest tornado outbreaks in history, and we barely observed four of the countless tornadoes on this insane high risk event.
Tornadoes:
4
Hail:
None
Flooding:
None Observed
Full Write-Up
Northeast Colorado
Chase Miles:
260
It was eight years in the making, but I finally destroyed the Colorado curse that has plagued me for years! After many Colorado misses, I finally nabbed some beautiful Colorado tornadoes!
Tornadoes:
3
Hail:
1.00"
Flooding:
None Observed
In Progress
Northern SD/Southern ND
Chase Miles:
891
This was THE weirdest, most unusual tornado chase day of my entire career! TWISTEX crews intercepted multiple tornadoes in the Dakotas on a cool, foggy, dreary warm-front setup.
Tornadoes:
9
Hail:
None
Flooding:
None Observed
Full Write-Up
Northeast South Dakota
Chase Miles:
546
Easily one of the best TWISTEX chase days, including multiple deployments on the Bowdle EF-4 monster! Six other tornadoes documented and deployed on as well!
Tornadoes:
7
Hail:
1.00"
Flooding:
None Observed
Full Write-Up
Central Nebraska
Chase Miles:
645
This was the best TWISTEX tornado deployment to date! In all, we documented nine tornadoes, including the large, dusty headliner EF-2 near Aurora, Nebraska.
Tornadoes:
9
Hail:
N/A
Flooding:
None Observed
In Progress
Eastern Wyoming
Chase Miles:
511
TWISTEX contributed to one of the most documented and researched tornadoes in history on a beautiful long-lived tornado in eastern Wyoming.
Tornadoes:
1
Hail:
3.00"
Flooding:
None Observed
In Progress
Northern Missouri
Chase Miles:
1,108
Less than 24 hours after my last Meteorology final, I documented my first tornado as a degreed Meteorologist and the TWISTEX team celebrated with me dressing in my #81 jerseys.
Tornadoes:
2
Hail:
N/A
Flooding:
None Observed
In Progress
Texas Panhandle
Chase Miles:
1,146
TWISTEX intercepted multiple tornadoes east of Plainview, Texas and would later get stuck on muddy roads outside Cedar Hill.
Tornadoes:
4
Hail:
1.00"
Flooding:
None Observed
In Progress
Western Oklahoma
Chase Miles:
1,091
A high risk in western Oklahoma that yielded only a couple tornadoes which we intercepted with TWISTEX on our second chase of the season.
Tornadoes:
2
Hail:
None
Flooding:
None Observed
Full Write-Up
Southern NE/Northern KS
Chase Miles:
1,343
My first major probe deployment with TWISTEX! Double-digit tornadoes across Nebraska and Kansas including a direct impact after dark after a wild chase of a multi-vortex monster!
Tornadoes:
16
Hail:
2.50"
Flooding:
None Observed
Full Write-Up
Northwest Kansas
Chase Miles:
275
Seven tornadoes intercepted by the TWISTEX team, including one that blows a mesonet vehicle into the ditch and knocks down powerlines on another vehicle.
Tornadoes:
7
Hail:
1.75"
Flooding:
None Observed
Full Write-Up
Northwest Kansas
Chase Miles:
486
While we missed the Windsor, Colorado tornado, northwest Kansas put on a show with several tornadoes intercepted along I-70; including one we watched from a ditch.
Tornadoes:
5
Hail:
2.00"
Flooding:
None Observed
Full Write-Up
Texas Panhandle
Chase Miles:
899
TWISTEX team intercepted two tornadoes east of Lake Fryer in Ochiltree County, Texas while trying to gather hail data on an HP storm.
Tornadoes:
2
Hail:
1.00"
Flooding:
None Observed
Full Write-Up
Northern Kansas
Chase Miles:
545
TWISTEX crews intercepted a tornado southwest of Hill City, Kansas and got into some hail before hijinks at a drive-thru later in the evening.
Tornadoes:
1
Hail:
1.00"
Flooding:
Rural Road Flooding
Full Write-Up
Northwest Texas
Chase Miles:
1,270
A high risk day that would've busted, except we took the bait on a sucker storm early on and witnessed the biggest, and one of the only tornadoes of the event.
Tornadoes:
1
Hail:
2.50"
Flooding:
Minor Urban
Full Write-Up
Northwest Kansas
Chase Miles:
1,186
My first cold core tornado chase was a massive success as we documented five tornadoes near I-70 in central Kansas.
Tornadoes:
5
Hail:
1.00"
Flooding:
None Observed
Full Write-Up
Southern Kansas
Chase Miles:
1,417
For nearly 20 years, this was my number 1 chase! Over a dozen tornadoes across southern Kansas, including the Conway Springs sequence which included my first ever nationally televised tornado video!
Tornadoes:
15
Hail:
1.00"
Flooding:
None Observed
Full Write-Up
Southern Kansas
Chase Miles:
386
My first big tornado chase day! In total, I documented 7 tornadoes across southern KS, including the Attica F-2 and a nighttime F-4 with Warren Faidley. My breakout season was well underway.
Tornadoes:
7
Hail:
4.00"
Flooding:
None Observed
Full Write-Up
Texas Panhandle
Chase Miles:
968
I scored my first major tornado chase in the Panhandles between work shifts. Three tornadoes, including the Stratford wedge and it's satellite tornado along with an after-dark tornado near Guymon, Oklahoma.
Tornadoes:
3
Hail:
None
Flooding:
None Observed
